SOLID TUMOR THERAPEUTICS ABSTRACT The overall goal of Solid Tumor Therapeutics (STT) is to develop novel therapeutics and strategies for the treatment of non-hematologic malignancies and to advance the diagnostic and biomarker tools needed to individualize their use. As a result, STT directly supports the mission, vision, and strategic priorities of MCC, which has prioritized exploiting MCC?s discoveries to maximize our ability to tailor cancer care plans based on each patient?s personal profile. The 59 members of STT come from diverse disciplines but are joined together by their shared research interest in solid tumor biology and treatment. Reflecting this, members are drawn from 16 departments and 4 schools. In 2017, program members had a total of $22.3M (direct costs) in cancer-focused funding. $13.0M (direct costs) is peer-reviewed funding, of which $6.0M (46%) was from NCI, $3.9M (30%) was from other NIH sources, and $3.0M (23%) was from other peer-reviewed agencies. During the project period, members authored 1662 cancer-relevant publications, of which 255 (15%) were intra-programmatic, 295 (18%) were inter-programmatic, and 485 (29%) were collaborative with investigators from other NCI-designated cancer centers. STT members also led 64 early phase investigator-initiated trials (IITs), which include translation of 20 of MCC?s scientific discoveries to the clinic through 26 IITs, a 13-fold increase over 2 such IITs between 2008- 2012. Accrual to STT treatment IITs increased by 218%, from 223 (2008-2012) to 709 (2013-2017). STT?s specific aims are to: 1) Identify tumor vulnerabilities, mechanisms, and targetable alterations; 2) Develop new classes of therapeutics and delivery systems; 3) Develop novel technologies to detect tumors and define tumor geography, microenvironment, and exploitable metabolic and signaling defects; and 4) Establish the clinical benefit of novel therapeutics and genome-driven treatment strategies. The cross-cutting themes are: A) Immune Oncology; B) Cancer Stem Cells, and C) Patient-specific Precision Therapy. STT is co-led by Ezra Cohen, MD, an expert in head and neck cancer and the clinical application of immune oncology discoveries; and Jeremy Rich, MD, MHS, MBA, whose career has focused on cancer stem cells and brain tumors. Their highly integrated efforts foster collaboration among the outstanding investigators in STT, who are leaders in their fields and have track records of extraordinary productivity.